An Open Letter To Sony About The Thanksgiving Day Parade

Dear Sony

Like millions of Americans today, I watched Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, which runs through the streets of New York City. As I was watching the parade run down Central Park West, right past #55 where the Ghostbusters fought Gozer, and through Columbus Circle, where Stay Puft made his grand entrance, a thought occurred to me. A thought that obviously did not occur to you: Where's the Ghostbusters? Why has there never been a Ghostbusters balloon?

Since the start of the parade route runs the reverse of Stay Puft's walk towards Dana's apartment building, a giant Stay Puft balloon would be appropriate. If the balloon could be flown in a standing position, it would actually look like he was walking down the street. The closest thing there was to a Stay Puft balloon in the parade was a Pillsbury Doughboy balloon. When the freakin' Pillsbury Doughboy has a balloon and Mr. Stay Puft doesn't - in a parade that runs through New York City - you know something's wrong!

If a Stay Puft balloon was not feasible, then a Slimer balloon, or even a No Ghost Logo balloon would do. You could have the balloon in the parade every year, which would keep Ghostbusters fresh in the minds of young and old alike. Heck, at the very least, you could have gotten the refurbished Ecto-1 out to New York and had it in the parade with Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, and Hudson inside it waving to the fans. I don't know about Murray, but I'm sure the other three would have gladly said yes. It's not like this idea hasn't been "done" before. The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" features the Ghostbusters, Ecto-1, and a Stay-Puft balloon (technically the real entity pretending to be a balloon) in the Thanksgiving Day parade.

All of the "iconic" parade floats - Spider-Man, Snoopy, Garfield (who was absent this year), etc. - are from properties just as old, if not older, than Ghostbusters; and aside from Spider-Man, none of them are associated with New York like Ghostbusters is. And the parade follows Stay Puft's walk down the streets (albeit in reverse), and goes right by Dana's apartment, so it's SO appropriate that it's scary! Ghostbusters should have had a balloon in the parade since 1984 (or at least the late 1980s when the cartoon series was big). It should be one of the parade's iconic balloons.

Having a Ghostbusters presence in the biggest parade of the year helps to keep the franchise alive in the minds of the general public - which helps leverage the franchise so you can make more money off of it, be it on merchandise or a new movie. Keeping Ghostbusters in the minds of the general public, especially with the HUGE audience the parade generates, is a VERY good thing for Sony.

You know, on the Ecto-1 Restoration featurette on the Ghostbusters Blu-Ray, your executives claim that Ghostbusters is one of your biggest properties, and that you restored the Ecto-1 in part because of the fans, but I didn't feel that love coming through in the parade. Sony, in conjunction with Sierra (and later Atari), paid to have the Ecto-1 displayed at events throughout the country, all of which are not nearly as big as the Thanksgiving Day parade. It's really sad that you'd have the car out at events where, in comparison, very few people would actually see it; yet leave it out of a big event that millions of people across the USA (and maybe worldwide) watch every year.

Consider this: When a Ghostbusters balloon or the Ecto-1 is shown on television, the parade commentators will talk about Ghostbusters, the Blu-Ray, the interest in a third movie, and so on. That's HUGE money-making buzz right there. There was so much potential for you to please the fans and make a huge amount of money, yet you wasted it because you probably never thought of doing it. If Sony ever wanted to test the waters for interest in a third Ghostbusters movie, having Ghostbusters represented in the parade would have done it.

To put this into perspective, the Mach 5 from Speed Racer was in the parade, even though there's no movie or cartoon out right now related to it. The feature film and new cartoon came out last year, and the original series is MUCH older than Ghostbusters. Speed Racer sure as heck didn't have a high-profile video game release this year, did it?

This year was the 25th anniversary of Ghostbusters, and as such, was a perfect time to premiere a Ghostbusters balloon in the parade. You know, to make up for not having one the past 25 years. It would have also given you great publicity for the Blu-Ray and video game...and the third movie that you're interested in making. The only time I heard your name mentioned during the parade was in connection with The Smurfs float, as you are apparently making a feature film based on that property in 2011. It's not like anyone has been pushing for a Smurfs movie to be made, yet everyone wants a third Ghostbusters movie. And the Smurfs didn't get a video game revival this year, like Ghostbusters did. Considering that you own Ghostbusters, and are only licensing The Smurfs, this really shows us Ghostbusters fans how much love you have for one of your biggest money-making franchises.

Yours Truly,
Paul Rudoff
(a Ghostbusters fan since 1984)